


Lonely Stargazers

by alienfirst



Series: Drift and Hivemind [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-03
Updated: 2014-04-03
Packaged: 2018-01-18 00:37:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1408498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienfirst/pseuds/alienfirst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stars and flying are reminders of their flaws. But hardly limitations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lonely Stargazers

**Author's Note:**

> This does occur within the timeline of Innocence and Experience. Far enough in that there are a few more kaiju running about, but before the world starts shifting too much. They are still in the Hong Kong Shatterdome, though not for much longer.
> 
> Part of a larger AU in which Newt manufactures his own kaiju.
> 
> Archimedes Ref: http://alienfirst.tumblr.com/post/62434001426/alienfirst-see-original-post-for-information  
> Little Wing Ref: http://alienfirst.tumblr.com/post/62345925361/alienfirst-see-original-post-for-commentary-on

Hermann felt the grumbling frustration and the phantom pains of metal bumping into skin long before Archimedes pushed open the door to the roof of the Shatterdome. The kaiju had gotten much too large for the elevators, leaving the corridors and staircases as her only method of travel within the structure. Her long cylinder shaped body was occasionally difficult to maneuver with, and switchback staircases were far from her favorite thing. But Archimedes' partner was currently on a section of the Shatterdome roof with a telescope in hand, and that's where she needed to be.

Blunt claws tacked the metal grating as Archimedes padded up to Hermann. She brushed her nose against the human’s cheek and gave a quick lick of affection. _You are difficult to find._

"Not by intent _liebling_ I assure you." At least, not explicit intent. Hermann reached a hand out to scratch under the young kaiju’s chin. He sighed. "I did pick an inconvenient location didn't I?"

Archimedes looked from Hermann, to the telescope Hermann had set up on a simple tripod next to him, up to the glittering night sky, and back again. _Not inconvenient for its purpose. Inconvenient for a kaiju, but I,_ she shuffled her feet, _I was not sure if my company would be desired._

Hermann rested his cane against the telescope, and reached both his hands up to gently bring the large owl-shaped face down to meet his. Archimedes stilled and let him move her as he needed. They bumped foreheads, Archimedes soft tentacles brushing across the bridge of Hermanns nose and forehead. _Your company is always desired._ An important sentiment. A simple sentence accompanied by all the affection that Hermann drowned himself in for the kaiju. His other half. Or third if he begrudgingly included Newton in the equation. The point being that Hermann very rarely only communicated via their mental link. However, words always felt insufficient when he shared his love with Archimedes.

Ears flicked the side of Hermann’s face as Archimedes pulled away. _Are you looking for anything particular?_

"No, no," Hermann shook his head. "I just, hadn't done this in quite some time. It felt right."

Archimedes snorted and swiveled all six of her ears in Hermanns direction. _That is only half true. You were not looking, but you had a reason to come up here. I_ felt _it._

The glare aimed at the kaiju was half-hearted and entirely laughable. "I thought we had an agreement about snooping."

 _You_ wound _me. I was_ not _snooping. You were doing a horrid job at keeping your thoughts to yourself._

Hermann threw his hands up in the air. "Fine, fine! Do tell why _did_ I journey up here then?"

_To be sad._

"That is hardly-" Hermann sputtered.

Four brown eyes glared down at him. _Do not deny to me. You and I agreed to no intrusions of thought and memory that are not explicitly our own, but you and I also agreed to be truthful. Is that not correct?_

Properly admonished, Hermann looked down at the telescope and idly adjusted the eye piece. "You are not wrong." Came the quiet response.

The two stood in silence, one on either side of the telescope. Hermann could feel Archimedes pacing around the edges of his consciousness, impatient but adhering to their agreement. He was beginning to wonder why that agreement was still in place as it seemed that Archimedes could anticipate and guess to near perfection. He had never had someone know him so fully. She knew of his childhood dream of flying to the stars. He had placed his old toy spaceman helmet over her head when she was younger. They had both proclaimed they would be astronauts in those play sessions.

A small grunt and a dry nose bumped his shoulder. Hermann looked up at a perfectly round face filled with perfectly placed concern.

_I wish for you to say it. Do not assume I know._

Hermann sighed. "I was... reminiscing. Considering lost time. Lost opportunities," he clutched his cane tighter, rested more weight on his bad leg, reminding himself, reminding her.

The owlish face smiled. Archimedes was the only kaiju who could smile and not send someone screaming in terror. _I remember someone telling me that ‘we are who we are for a reason’. That no shame should be held for limitations of the body._ She carefully wrapped her tail around Hermann, tip coming to rest against a leg shuddering with the pain that Hermann had purposefully placed on it.

"You are still young -"

A growl cut him short and spikes of angry numbers and symbols filtered through his head. _And you are foolish for one so old._

"How dare you -"

_No. As much as he is bothersome, Newton is correct about you. You wrap yourself five times over into yourself and all you see is imperfection. The only one who does not think you are worthy is you._

"What does this have to do with _anything_?" Hermann glared up at Archimedes, his own anger becoming spikes and chaotic flows of equations.

Archimedes gestured with one of her secondary arms to the telescope and then to the sky. _Any other person would come up here to see the expanse of the universe. Or the lights of Hong Kong. You,_ she turned to glare at Hermann, a low growl emanating from her throat, _you bring yourself here to look at something you believe you cannot have._

Hermann took a deep breath and spoke slowly, feeling as if he were speaking facts of life to a child. "I _can't_ fly out of the Earth's atmosphere. I will _never_ see those celestial bodies closer than I am now! You know this better than anyone."

 _And you are not at a loss for it!_ Archimedes shook her head in exasperation, her soft neck spines raising up with anxiety. _You_ told me _that I did not need to fly. Was that a lie? Every_ night _I dream of flying with you! I wake up and my heart aches because those dreams are not real-_

"What?"

_That I cannot do something that, that a kaiju should be able to do because-_

“Archimedes!”

_How can you tell me one thing and not believe it yourself!_

_Archimedes!_

The kaiju stilled at the mental shout of her name. How Hermann defined her. Countless ever changing numbers and equations, mixed together with impossible math and wind and the breeze and movement.

"I have the same dreams."

_What?_

“Guys?”

The mathematician and the kaiju both whipped their heads toward the intrusion who had entered through the rooftop door. **_What?_**

Newton hissed and clutched his head in pain as he walked toward them. “God _dammit_ guys! Don’t _both_ of you do that at once,” he grimaced further before bringing his hands down, the combined mental shout fading quickly. “Fuck that hurt.”  
 ****

 _Newton, leave._ Archimedes gave an order, not a request. She loathed being in Newton’s head, and doing so now signified her irritation at his interruption.

There was enough thought of self preservation in Newton for him to pause and glance warily between the two. “Uh, well, we could, maybe, uh, hear, _feel_ , you two from the secondary labs.”

Archimedes drew her head up as high and stiff as she could and stared down at Newton. _And?_

“We were worried?”

Hermann put a hand on Archimedes back leg before she had a chance to launch the emotional tirade she was slowly building up inside her head. She calmed at Hermann’s touch and relaxed her neck down to a more neutral position. Hermann hummed his approval and looked at Newton. “We’re fine. We were disagreeing over something we should not have been. You can safely go back to your lab.”

A small chirp sounded from the open door. Little Wing popped his head out and glanced side eyed at Newt. _I said Archie and Newtmann-of-chalk-and-moth were fine. Archie and Newtmann-of-chalk-and-moth don’t want to see Newtmann-of-blue-and-blood._

Newton rolled his eyes. “Fine! Fine! I know when we’re beat! But,” he pointed at both Hermann and Archimedes in turn, “I swear, if there’s a _hint_ that one of you is going to throw the other off the building, we’re coming back up and putting you both in time out.”

“Newton you can’t put us in-”

“Time. Out.”

Newton slowly backed away and through the door, closing it carefully, mouthing the phrase “time out” over and over again before there was a click. There was muffled, indecipherable talk as Newt walked down the stairs, followed by the solid thumping that could only have been Little Wing.

A light wuffling sound mixed with a purr came from Archimedes, along with the rustling of her soft spines as she shook her head in a semblance of laughter. Hermann shot her a tight lipped look. "I fail to see what is humorous about the likes of _Newton_ threatening us like school children."

_He is like you. And you are like him. It is funny how much you overlap each other._

Hermann snorted. "Shall I liken you to the little bird then? You and him are cut from the same flesh after all."

Archimedes butted her nose against Hermann's shoulder, taking in his scent and how he breathed and the tempo of his heart. She sighed into him, closing her eyes. _I suppose the comparison would be similar._ The kaiju raised her ears up as she remembered why her own hearts had begun racing in anger and then surprise. _But you and I weren't talking about Newton or Little Wing, this discussion was about you._

Shoulders stiffened and Hermann placed a hand above the kaijus nose, fingers threading their way through the small glowing fronds. “No, it was about _us_ , darling.”

_No, you were being evasive and untruthful and -_

“Your dreams, _liebling_. And mine.”

 _Oh._ Archimedes managed to point all four of her eyes in any direction but toward Hermann.

“I think, perhaps, we have both been hiding from each other.”

 _I,_ Archimedes shifted her feet, her secondary arms fidgeting, hands clenching and unclenching, _if I had known I was intruding upon your dreams, I would not have, not -_

Hermann kissed her nose. He so often forgot how young Archimedes truly was. She was brilliant. More intelligent than Zeus, Grace, and Little Wing combined, and learned at speeds that made Hermann burn with jealousy. But still so young. Newt had an advantage with Little Wing. Little Wing accepted Newt unconditionally and never doubted him. Grace even, held an unwavering faith in Tendo that was a wonder to see. Zeus was too full of ego to ever feel unsure of himself or his partner. But Archimedes. Archimedes questioned everything. And it was glorious to see. Glorious when she was in pursuit of knowledge. Less so when it was focused on herself. Or on Hermann.

“If you intruded on my dreams, I am just as guilty of doing the same to you.”

_But I was the one flying. You followed._

“Because you knew what you were doing. I followed because I trusted you. I -” Hermann searched the area above Archimedes’ head for an explanation. “ _We_ , we made those flights together.”

Archimedes looked at him with a wary look. _I do not like ‘we.’ I like you and I._

“ _You_ and _I_ then,” the man snorted in return.

Archimedes shifted and curled her oblong body in a loose circle around Hermann. _I am sorry. I will try and not do so anymore._

“Honestly, you,” Hermann jerked in realization. “Wait.”

The kaiju tensed and then relaxed as Hermann began laughing. _What? What is so funny? This was quite serious!_

“No no! You don’t - for God’s sake,” Hermann smiled coyly up at Archimedes, “did you even think about asking Little Wing if he shares dreams with Newton?”

Archimedes’ ears drooped and hugged the sides of her neck in uncertainty. _What? No. No, I had not thought to - What would he know of this?_

A sigh and a pat on the side of Archimedes’ neck. “He would know a great many things as he and Newton dream together nightly. I had forgotten Newton had mentioned it to me, mentioned it before you were even born.”

 _So… it is normal? You and -_ we, _are flying together while_ we _sleep?_

“If you are content with that analysis, then I see no reason it is not true. Newton did not seem concerned by it, is still not concerned by it, and he is, admittedly, better suited to answering these questions.”

Archimedes lifted her ears and shook the spines around her neck, creating her unique purring sound. _In that case, I like these dreams very much. We, we can continue them?_ She unconsciously brought her secondary arms low to the ground and began tracing nervous circles with her blunt claws. _I did like them._

“Honestly, the moment you hear that Newton is alright with an unknown, you, and Grace, and Zeus, and especially Little Wing, immediately accept it. Understandable, though a little wounding to me.”

Hermann found himself on the receiving end of a pointed snort directly in his face. _You are ridiculous. He knows kaiju. You do not. Well, not as much._

“Apology accepted. I think.”

Tail relaxed, arms no longer wringing themselves in nervous energy, Archimedes swiveled her head up to the sky. _I’m afraid I interrupted your stargazing._

“Nonsense,” Hermann patted her side, “the night is still young. Besides, the stars are a far grander inspiration for flight than simple clouds, don’t you think?”

Archimedes perked up, ears and spines raising. _Oh quite! Though, I suppose there is a problem with oxygen…_

“ _Dreams_ , dear. I think we can forgive that particular scientific inaccuracy in our dreams.”

**Author's Note:**

> \- Newt's kaiju are uncomfortable using terms such as "we" or "us." They cherish their individuality. This is also why Archimedes is somewhat put off by shared dreaming at first. Newt's kaiju know of the Hivemind that the original kaiju possess, and it scares them.
> 
> \- Conversely, Newt has trouble NOT using "we" and "us."
> 
> \- Little Wing views Newt and Hermann as one person, just split in two. One that is his, and one that isn't.
> 
> \- Events referenced by Hermann and Archimedes: http://alienfirst.tumblr.com/post/65984665052/archimedes-was-the-best-and-brightest-she-learned and http://alienfirst.tumblr.com/post/72430974930/hermann-and-archimedes-never-really-mention-the
> 
> \- Further art and writing about this AU: http://alienfirst.tumblr.com/tagged/drift-and-hivemind


End file.
